^SZ - Set ZPL Version

^SZ picks the dialect the printer applies to the rest of the input: the original ZPL, or ZPL II. It lets one printer accept formats written for both, and the guide discourages version 1. Neither this service nor Labelary interprets version 1, so ^SZ1 returns ZPL II without a complaint rather than the older semantics.

Syntax

^SZv

Support

Recognised, deliberately skippedparsed: none · state: none · rendered: none

Accepted and skipped, because it configures the printer rather than the label. It cannot change the rendered output, and Labelary skips it too.

The renderer and Labelary always interpret ZPL II, and Labelary's command table says "version 2 only". Both engines render a version 1 format as version 2: no compatibility gap, only a shared limitation. The renderer does not parse this command. It reports IGNORED_COMMAND at info severity, which does not reach X-Warnings. Labelary is also silent, so the rendered label is identical in both engines. — not pinned by a test

Labelary renders this command.

Parameters

vVersionoptional · one of a setnot honoured by zpl.tools

Which dialect to interpret the rest of the format as. Version 1 changes how several commands behave and Zebra discourages it.

Default: 2
Invalid value: enough to make the whole command be ignored. The guide ignores the whole command when the argument is missing or invalid, so the previous version stays in force, not 2. This has no effect here: the renderer does not parse the command and reads everything as ZPL II.
Test coverage: No documented value is exercised by a test (1, 2). The invalid-value rule is not pinned by a test.

1: Original ZPL semantics, which the guide discourages — not honoured by zpl.tools
2: ZPL II (default)

Behavior

The guide keeps the setting active until another ^SZ or a power cycle, so it is a mode rather than a per-label instruction. An invalid argument makes the guide ignore the whole command, so the previous version stays in force rather than 2.

^SZ2 therefore changes nothing and only documents an assumption, and ^SZ1 is a request that neither engine can honor. Labelary's command table records the same limitation as "version 2 only", so this is a shared gap rather than a compatibility difference. A format that depends on version 1 semantics needs a rewrite rather than a flag.

The renderer does not parse this command. It reports IGNORED_COMMAND at info severity, which does not reach X-Warnings. Labelary is also silent, so the rendered label is identical in both engines.

Example

Stating the version the rest of the format is written in:

^XA
^SZ2
^FO50,50^A0N,40,40^FDZPL II^FS
^XZ

Open in viewer

^XA Start FormatBegins a label format.
^CC / ~CC Change CaretChanges the character that introduces a format command.
^CT / ~CT Change TildeChanges the character that introduces a control command.